The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1887-12-06
GEORGIA AND OHIO.
Profits of Farming IN the Two
States.
MR., GLEssNERS INSTRUCTIVE LETTER

AMERIcus, Ca, December 1.--TSpecial
Correspondence CONSTITUTION. IA few years
ago l ran across a package of rusty brown pa
pers, neatly folded and tied up. Opening the
package, found them to be assessors returns
of ''tax in kind for the year 1864. Georgia
farmers will remember we'll this tax, laid by
the confederate government, by which they
were compelled to turn over to the authorities
certain proportion of all the products of their
farms--one-tenth If remember Alright. This
package of papers represents the returns from
Sumter, Schley, Webster, Stewart and other
counties in this section, and an eXamina-
ton of them was to me most interesting I
was surprised to find in this cotton belt such
an amount of corn oats, wheat pork, beef,
and other provisions raised, for had been told
that it was cheaper to buy provisions than to
raise them had been told that during the
war southwest Georgia had been termed ''the
granary of the confederacy," and an examina-
ton of these old papers convinced me that the
term was not misappled
Among the returns was forty-seven thousand
pounds of pork by one planter. This particu-
lar item was impressed upon my mind by the
fact that that particular planter was at the
time was looking over his "tax in kind" re-
port buying pork at from fifteen to eighteen
cents per pound with which to feed his field
hands.
AT the close of the war there were in the
warehouses at Americas, Smthville and
other points on the Southwestern road thous-
ands of pounds of pork belonging to the confed-
crate government, which had been collected
as tax in kind and by purchase.
Here, then, was q section which for four
years not only produced enough provisions of
nj in dc fpp
supplied the armies of the confedeiacy, and
which now imports pork by the carload from
the north.
What has made the change?
So far as l can ascertain, there were two
causes. During the war necessity and the
commands of the confederate government
forced the farmers to confne their labors chiefly
to the raising OF provisions. Immediately after
the war cotton was so high in price that
every effort was made to raise as much
as possible, and it was found cheaper to buy
provisions than to raise them. While this was
true with cotton at twenty cents per pound, it
was not true with cotton at ten cents per
| pound, but the habit had been formed and it
| was hard to break-in fact it seemed easier
| to break the farmers than it was to break the
| habit
| Necessity is again compelling the farmers
| OF southwest Georgia to raise pork and
within the past five years there has been a
| great increase in that product. There are now
| comparatively few farmers in this section who
| DO not raise enough to supply their own fam
| lilies, while few raise surplus to sell. But
| the great bulk of pork which is consumed bv
| the laborers is yet imported from the north
west The freight alone on this imported pork
| is an immense sum, and that much taken from
| the profits of the southern farmer. OF course
| if this pork can be bought cheaper than it can
| BIO raised, then it is economy to buy from the
north, but the question naturally arises, can
| pork be proftably raised in Georgia?
| 10 this question | have received many re-
| plies but have never been told that hogs
| could not be raised i'll this section. Intelligent
| farmers, men who raise enough pork to supply
| their own wants and have surplus to sell,
| have told me that they could raise pork at a
| cost not to exceed three cents per pound
| Others have told me that, taking into consid-
Grafton the trouble and the certainty of having
portion of their hogs stolen, it was cheaper to
buy pork than to raise it,
Those who claim that it is cheaper to buy
pork than to raise it, generally have breed of
hogs OF the Virginia variety, The anecdote is
an old one, but it is so applicable that l cannot
forbear giving it. A Virginia farmer was ex-
patlating to northern visitor upon the supe-
| riority OF his hogs, which were long-legged
slab-sded unganly beasts, and upon being
asked the particular point OF superiority, re-
piled, Speed, Sir speed; hog that CAM out
run niger is no good in this country" These
"fast" hogs are turned loose in the swamps to
make their own living-seldom ever looked
after--and when their owner wants mess of
pork he calls up pack of dogs, shoulders a
gun and goes hunting after his hogs, and when
he gets one he can carry him home by the hind
leg. / agree with this class of pork-ra that
hogs don't pay.
Those who claim to be able to make pork at
cost OF three cents per pound, keep their
hogs up, feed them fairly we'll fattening them
In the fall on ground peas, sweet potatoes and
corn. But even these men have paid little or
no attention to improving the breed Of their
hogs, and two-year-old rarely runs over three
hundred pounds.
l have seen some Ber1shires, Essex and
Poland Chinas that we're as pretty as / ever
saw anywhere; but | must confess that there
are few Of them. There seems to be no good
reason why these improved breeds should not
be raised, as they seem to do well, and j know
of nothing in the climate that would work
against them. Some few of our most progress
sivc farmers have bought Poland Chinas, and
are trying to improve their stock.
AS an evidence Of the profits Of pork raising
in this section on a small scale, / give the ex-
pericnce of an amateur farmer near this city,
who has twenty acres of land. Last January
he bought a SOW and five pigs, for which be
paid SIG. Up TO this date no has sold 500
worth Of pork and has eight pigs left He has
bought no feed for them, raising it all on his
twenty acres, besides keeping some fine cows
and other stock. Nor does he claim any supe-
riority for his breed OF hogs.
As our farmers have for years bought the
inference is that the northern farmer can raise
it cheaper than our farmers While / do not
admit this, it is well to compare the methods
of the Ohio and Georgia farmers in this branch
of stock raising.
In Ohio the breeds Of hogs generally raised
is Poland Chinas, Berkshires and crosses Of
those breeds. These are generally known as
grazcIs, because they feed and fatteen upon
grass. AS soon as the pigs are weaned they
are turned into a pasture field, making their
growth upon grass, and in the fall are fed all
the corn they will eat. At the age of nine
months one of these pigs will dress three hun
dred pounds, and / have seen them far exceed
that weight. At the age Of one year it will
weigh from 400 TO 800 pounds. But these
hogsGare taken care Of and are not allowed TO
run wild. The cost Of raising them is com
paratiyely nothing. and the farmers Of Ohio
have learned that the profit in pork raising Is
the growth Of the animal, for when it
comes to fattening in pen the food
costs nearly, If not quite, as much as the fat
will bring. Were it not for the grass, there
would be no profit in raising either hogs or
cattle for the market. 1t must be remembered
that the Ohio farmer does not get for his pork
what the Georgia farmer pays for H.. The
droyer, the packer, the railroads and tho com
mission merchants all add per cent, and the
aggregate Is large.
Now, a few figures ~ to the profit in raising
improved breeds Of hogs. A Poland China or